Vinger is a former municipality in the old

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1964 when it became part of

Kongsvinger Municipality Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

. The municipality was located in the Vinger region in the southern part of the county, along the border with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of Vinger was located in the town of Kongsvinger where Vinger Church is located (the town was not actually part of the municipality, but this was where the councils met).

History

The

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

of Vinger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). In 1854, the King issued a royal decree that declared the village area around the

Kongsvinger Fortress Kongsvinger Fortress () is located in the city of Kongsvinger which is located within Kongsvinger Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is situated on a hill west and north of the Glomma river, standing astride the ancient Vinger Royal Roa ...

to be a

kjøpstad A (historically ''kjøbstad'', ''kjöbstad'', or ''kaupstad'', from ) is an old Scandinavian term for a "market town" in Denmark–Norway for several hundred years. Kjøpstads were places of trade and exporting materials (e.g. timber, flour, iron ...

. On 7 February 1855, the town of Kongsvinger (population: 472) was separated from Vinger municipality to become a separate urban municipality. Afterwards, Vinger had a population of 10,947. In 1864, the southern part of the municipality (population: 6,920) was separated from Vinger to form the new municipality of

Eidskog Eidskog is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vinger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skotter ...

. This division left Vinger with a population of 6,226. On 1 January 1876 a part of Vinger adjacent to the town of Kongsvinger containing 209 inhabitants was transferred to Kongsvinger. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Vinger (population: 6,257) was merged with the neighboring municipality of Brandval (population: 4,384) and the town of Kongsvinger (population: 2,349) which created a new

with a total population of 12,990.

Etymology

The whole region was historically called '' Vinger'' () and this name was given to the municipality upon its creation in 1838. This name could be related to the river

Glomma The Glomma or Glåma is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the river r ...

which flows through the region. One could compare this to the English word (for the missing ''s'' see

Indo-European s-mobile The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e ...

). The river

passes through the center of the district where the south-flowing river takes a sharp northwestward turn. This can be compared to the similar Lithuanian word ''vìngis'' which means "bend", "bow", or "turn".

Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The

of Vinger was made up of 25 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Vinger: * 1837-1838: Lars T. Bierkebæk * 1839-1842: Michael Strøm Lie * 1844-1847: Mentz Rynning * 1847-1852: Michael Strøm Lie * 1853-1854: Sigvald Rynning * 1855-1859: F.D. Werenskiold * 1859-1869: Mentz Rynning * 1870-1870: Petter Holm * 1871-1872: T. Grønvold * 1873-1880: Albert Jacobsen * 1881-1888: Thomas von Westen Engelhart * 1889-1896: Hans Lemmich Juell * 1897-1907: C. Larsmoen * 1908-1913: Otto Olsen Pramm ( V) * 1914-1916: Th. Løvenskiold * 1917-1919: Christian Eng * 1920-1929: Ivar Færder ( NKP) * 1930-1931: Ole Smedstad * 1932-1934: Bottolf Engebretsen * 1935-1936: Alf Arnesen * 1937-1940: Ivar Færder ( NKP) * 1941-1945: Kristian Grasmo ( NS) * 1945-1951: Ivar Færder ( NKP) * 1952-1963: Einar Tjernsberg

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Vinger include: * Jørgen Young (1781–1837), a timber merchant and member of the Storting * Ivar Færder, a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician who was the mayor of Vinger

References

{{use dmy dates, date=March 2022 Kongsvinger Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway